Love among Chaos
by Ohanzee Kage
Summary: Ranma was never meant to lead a normal life, neither was Akane really. Together they can stand strong amongst the chaos that surrounds their very lives. Ranma/Akane Ryoga/Ukyo Mousse/Shampoo Nabiki/TBD
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma, any Inuyasha, Kenshin, various characters/references from Warner Bros, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, history.. others TBD.. Kenshin belongs to ****Nobuhiro Watsuki, Ranma belongs to Rumiko Takahasi**

**Rating may go up depending on how I feel.**

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><p><strong>A Change of Pace<strong>

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><p>Once upon a time there was a city, built on strong foundations. Nothing bad could be said of the people living there. The men, were real men. The women, were real women. And small cute black piglets, were real small black cute piglets.<p>

Times change..

These days Kendoists roamed through schools spouting poor Shakespearean poetry to innocent onlookers.

Fortunately for the non-real girl poor Shakespearean poetry wasn't a problem for her currently.

Ranko back-flipped out of the way as the dirt sprayed high into the air. Blindfolded, the boy, currently turned girl, parried the oncoming relentless attacks from his, currently her, opponent. He back-flipped again, this time launching high into the air, landing precariously on the edge of the tall building, he rolled forward and to the side bringing himself back onto the center of the tall building and attacked his opponent using only the moves he'd been learning recently. The lessons coming back to him in his mind as he attacked..

He'd never expected for things to go this way. After the wedding he'd been frustrated, he knew he wanted to marry Akane, for some reason he had a foot-in-mouth disease. He was angry for not speaking out in protest against everyone who'd ruined his wedding. While a large part of him didn't feel ready yet. But.. He knew she was the one for him and was secretly hoping for a reason for things to change. At least after the wedding was said and done there would be no more of the dammed "pressure" to marry. The pressure was what made it hard to think sometimes and he just said stupid things while backpedaling most of the time.

He'd gone to see Shampoo two days after the failed wedding, looking like a storm cloud. Shampoo had attempted her usual flirtations at first and when he'd displayed he was in no mood she could have almost sworn Ranma was ready to hit her. Of course he didn't.

Finally after glaring at her for several long, agonizing, minutes he'd asked her to get Cologne. Him and the elder had spoken late into the night, at one point Ranma called Nabiki over, and for a hefty price, gotten her to sign a contract between Ranma and Cologne. The end of the contract was that Ranma's engagement/marriage to Shampoo was null and void, but in exchange, Ranma and his family would be partially adopted by the tribe. Which would grant Ranma access to training, and permanently ally the Saotome's to the tribe.

He was knocked back by a low kick, the he felt himself drawn towards his attacker as his arms were knocked open and he felt a fast series of punches raining on his face and chest so fast they made a drum like sound in the air. Ranma kicked out and found himself in a leg bar, his face pressed flat against the ground. At this point, most others would give up. Of course, this was Ranma. Using two fingers Ranma pushed up his body, ready to use his legs to smash his opponent as they jumped out of his way.

Ranma paused, quiet, listening. He heard a ruffle of sound and turned just on time to block a kick, but the kick was a feint and he found himself on this back this time only his face hit by the fast drum-like punches. He tapped his hand on the floor, signaling his opponent that he was done.

Ranma stood up a moment later removing the blindfold from his face. "Damn, I'm glad you were pulling your punches," he bowed to his opponent, "thank you for today's lessons sensei "

The old man waved off Ranma for bowing, "I'm not your sensei," he said with only a slight reproach in his voice, of course honored by the talented boy calling him sensei. "Your father is your sensei. He may have done things wrong, but he started you on your path, which led you to become the man you are today."

The man was very old and didn't look very strong. Of course looks can be deceiving. The man was a master of several Chinese martial arts, Cologne had paired them up for Ranma's training, she had several special techniques she wanted to teach him of course, but she didn't have the time herself to commit to full time training.

It had been two months of training now, Ranma was blazing through the lessons. The man was teaching him Wushu, and Wing Chun, with a strong emphasis on Wing Chun.

The man had also insisted on teaching Ranma proper manners and respect and had made Ranma vow not to insult anyone for the first three months of training. So far he'd succeeded, he'd had to bite his tongue several times with Akane, and was now grateful for the practice. He no longer felt the need to say stupid things as often. As a result she was nicer to him and they were getting along better than ever now. He'd even started training her, even though for now, he still made her wear a full body protection suit while sparring with her. She actually didn't mind after a few sparring sessions, she'd realized that Ranma hit hard enough that even with the armor, it still stung.

Ranma bowed his head slightly to the Grand Master's rebuke. "Hai!", Ranma then smiled "So as a friend I'd like to ask you a favor."

The old man smiled at Ranma, and after pouring them both tea, gestured for Ranma to sit across from him and make his request.

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><p>On the way home Ranma saw a pastry shop, and being hungry after training, went in to check out the treats. He found a treat from America, sliced New York Cheesecake, which sounded appetizing at the moment. And ordered two slices to go.<p>

Getting home, he did something he wouldn't normally have done before the training. He found Kasumi to hide the snack for him, and smiled gratefully at her as she handed him the dish she'd set aside from dinner. After opening the tray he turned around, and surprising both her and him, gave her a brotherly hug in gratitude for the extra large portion she'd saved. He sat down and watched "Enter the Dragon" as he ate, smiling proudly at the fact that he was now training in the same art that the famous movie star/martial artist had trained in.

After he ate his dinner he even took the time to wash his plate and chopsticks before going into the bathroom, and after putting up the occupied sign, taking a long relaxing bath. After he got out most of the house was asleep, as he hoped, he went to the fridge and after grabbing the cheesecake, made his way to the Tendo rooftop. He hung upside down from the roof long enough to tap gently on Akane's window a few times and then he laid back on the roof looking at the stars.

A few seconds later Akane's window opened, and a few seconds after that, Akane joined him on the rooftop. Ranma gestured with his thumb at the box, "Wanna slice?"

Akane opened the box and gave a low squeal of delight at seeing the cheesecake. Grabbing the slice carefully, she held it on her hand and took a bite, savoring the sweet flavor and smiling. "Mmmm it's sooooo good!" She smiled at him "You should try some."

His heart was racing, this was what he lived for. Trying to act nonchalant he grabbed his slice and started eating it, looking back up at the stars trying to slow his heart rate down. He had noticed recently that she only smiled that smile for him, and it made him very nervous sometimes.

To stem off his nervousness and get himself on familiar territory, he asked "Did you practice the two kata's I showed you this week?"

"Five times each!" She said, proudly displaying five fingers held wide as she smiled at him.

There it was again, _focus_, he told himself.

"I.. I.. Uh.. I have somethin' new I wanna teach ya to do tomorrow."

"Hai sensei," She said to him.

Ranma remembered the words his new master had recently spoken to him, and considered saying the same thing. But he didn't, Soun had already confided to Ranma that he'd wanted the boy to take over her training anyway. Ranma was very thankful to the emotional man for the scrolls he'd given him, the Tendo style and various other moves from the Anything Goes style.

They sat up several more minutes, idly chatting about martial arts, mainly enjoying one another's company.

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><p>The next morning when Akane got up for her morning run, she was surprised to see Ranma stretching and getting ready to run with her. She noticed several weighted wraps laying around him.<p>

He smiled at her, "Here," he handed her two of the bands, she estimated their weight to be about forty or fifty pounds. "They're twenty-five pounds a piece." He said, he held up two of his own, which were more than twice the size of hers. "I think from now on we should wear these all the time for the next few weeks. At least till school starts."

After pondering the thought for a moment, she shrugged and put them on.

Finally feeling a little rude, she said "Sorry, good morning!"

"Whatcha sorry for?"

She didn't respond, she just blushed.

After a moment, he said "Well anyway, let's go running."

They started at a sedate pace, Ranma just keeping up with her. After three blocks Ranma started speeding up. "Betcha can't keep up with me!" He stuck his tongue out and took off, increasing his speed.

Akane wasn't going anywhere near her full speed, but with these weights on it was more of a struggle than she'd anticipated, they'd passed the mile marker now and the weights were making what would normally be a short run, strenuous. She pushed herself and soon caught up to him, and they both pressed on running full tilt around a significantly larger route than Akane usually took before finally heading back to the dojo.

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><p>Nabiki was deep in thought, she would soon be leaving for college and didn't want to leave her family with any sort of struggles with finances. Even though she planned to keep an eye on things from Hokkaido, and over the phone with Kasumi, she still wanted more peace of mind. She had enough pictures of Akane and Ranko to sell to make a hefty sum. But she wanted something.. more.<p>

The question was how to bring things up to Ranma.

Naturally the best option was to get the dojo back on a normal schedule with students. She knew the buttons she would have to push to get her father to teach a small amount of students, but she knew that he wouldn't be able to teach enough to run the household himself. Ranma needed to be certified, and he needed to draw an audience.

She'd found a way to draw an audience. It was a martial arts tournament/television show.

Martial artists from all over the world were called to compete, there was a series of challenges. "Island Warrior" it was named, a stupid name, but the premise was interesting. Each bout of the tournament would be held on weekends, the competitors would be dropped off on an island. From there they had to complete an obstacle course, well, they weren't really courses. But they had to make it to the other side of the island, through what may as well have been an obstacle course.

Camera's were placed all over the island. The point was not to get to the other side the fastest, it was to face everything the island had to offer face on, before facing your opponent. The winner was decided by a K.O. or tap-out.

Even with her limited caring for martial arts beyond her family ties, she thought it sounded cool.

_Guess I might as well just ask him straight out!_ She finally decided. Immediately afterward she decided she could do so later and proceeded to relax as she heard Ranma and Akane out practicing in the dojo.

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><p>"So," said Ranma, after Akane had finished her first two kata's "I'm gonna ask Kodachi Kuno on a date."<p>

"Excuse me?" She shot him an icy glare, still panting.

"Maybe Shampoo," he said, now rubbing his chin as if deep in thought "she's hot."

"Ranma.." A red cloud aura started generating around her.

He pushed a little further, "I mean, she's got the hips, and those large.."

Akane's mallet generated into her hand. "Ranma.."

"There!" shouted Ranma, now pointing at the mallet. "That is exactly what I"m talking about!"

Akane looked at him startled as the mallet vanished with her anger. "What?"

"You asked me about how I do Ki attacks the other day." Ranma said, glad to be explaining, "You asked the other day how I use emotion to generate Ki, and I told you that you do it all the time, that's it." He smiled at her, "Aside from your anger at me, how did you feel?"

Stunned at the turn of conversation, and a little guilty at her quickness to believe the worst in Ranma, Akane didn't respond for a few moments. Finally she said, "Like my whole body was alive, just humming with energy. Now that I think about it, I can think about how.."

She trailed off for a moment and concentrated. A moment later, a hammer reappeared in her hands. Although it was smaller and disappeared very soon after she pulled it out.

"Huh." She said in fascination.

"Good," said Ranma smiling, "by the way, I was just kidding about the Kodachi and Shampoo stuff. I just needed to get you to do that."

For a brief moment the anger returned to her, before she stamped it down harshly.

"Now," he said proudly, "I'll be able to start training you to control your Ki." He held up his hand and a small blue, glowing, ball appeared in his hand, floating gently an inch above it. Ranma concentrating hard did something Akane had never seen him do before. First he made it start changing colors, then he made it float around behind him and back to his hands. By this time his eyes were closed and beads of sweat were rolling down his face. Finally he opened his eyes and let the Ki ball fade away.

"Eventually you'll be able to do that sort of stuff. But it's gonna take a long time, fist I'm gonna teach you how to use it to enhance yourself in combat." He looked at her for a moment, "You already do it subconsciously sometimes, but I want to train you to fine tune it some. Granted I'm currently being trained to fine tune it even further." He admitted a moment later.

"I'm also gonna train you in Wing Chun." He decided a moment later.

Suddenly he changed the subject. "Say, ya wanna go for ice cream?"

Akane surprised blinked at him.

"You look like a fish out of the water." He poked her on the forehead and she fell back on her butt. She glared at him.

"Yes I want ice cream." She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him.

She still accepted his hand a moment later when he offered it to help her stand up.

"Um.. Uh.. C. Can you wear something nice?"

When she turned around to respond the dojo door had closed behind him.

She smiled, suddenly feeling nervous, was this going to be a date?

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><p>In another part of the world a friendrival was experiencing navigational issues.

Ryoga Hibiki, the eternally lost boy was once again.. Lost. Hopelessly lost.

After the wedding he'd wandered off aimlessly.

Ryoga wasn't an idiot, he saw it that day. Akane had _wanted_ to marry Saotome.

He'd been very depressed afterward, he got lost and was abducted by men whom had planned to sell him off as a slave. They'd only caught him because he didn't notice them in his depression till the rag was over his mouth. By which point it was too late.

They'd chained him in a prison with several other men, he'd broken his chains and the chains of the other men. After killing the two guards posted outside the men had run off to the other building, taking the men's guns to go save their women. After leveling his prison Ryoga made his way to the women's building, actually beating the rest of the men there. After knocking out the guards he soon freed the women. One of the men had taken it upon himself to kill the guards with his gun, Ryoga had nearly beaten the man to death.

After the people had left him Ryoga had performed a huge Shi Shi Hokudan that leveled everything in sight and wandered off. The people would eventually revere they young man they met that night as a legend who had walked off into the sunset mysteriously.

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><p>As Ranma headed inside to go get ready to head out with Akane, Nabiki stopped him.<p>

"Here." She tossed him a scroll.

Opening it he saw it was a poster announcing a show/martial arts tournament.

"What's this for?"

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Read it."

Ranma's eyes widened on seeing the prize money. One million yen was a lot, and the participants would have potential to be called back in a year for the next tournament. Of course Ranma hadn't read that part yet, but Nabiki was about to explain it all to him, and make the request for him to train in the dojo. She put her game face on and got ready to try to do some _honest_ negotiations with Ranma.

Ranma cut her off by raising a hand, "Give me a chance to read this over and think about it. Can we talk tomorrow?"

Nabiki didn't want to let him off the hook without an answer, but she decided that the decision might be best when he was more informed. Plus it gave her time to formulate what she wanted to say. "Fine, tomorrow it is." Her tone of voice left no question that the conversation would in fact be tomorrow.

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><p>Ranma waited anxiously for Akane, trying to look nonchalant sitting on top of the entrance gate. He was wearing a white, sleeveless, kung-fu style shirt made of silk with a dragon wrapped around a tiger embroidered on the back. Akane finally came down wearing her new favorite dress. It was black with one yellow stripe of silk stretching from her shoulder to her waist and another along the hem.<p>

Ranma gulped and hopped down, he opened the gate and Akane gasped in surprise to see a taxi out front.

Ranma was very happy to see the pleased look on Akane's face. He'd paid Nabiki highly for this favor, that is to say the favor was reasonably expensive. Her silence was astronomically expensive. But with the expense came her promise of non interference from any of the usual gang. And her promise made it all worth it. Even Ranma didn't know where they were going. the taxi would take them where they needed to go, and everything was paid for already including tips.

Thinking of how much this had cost him was making the decision easier for him. He'd pretty much already decided he was going to compete. It sounded interesting and the money would go a long way if he were able to win. He was glad for his new training, he was hoping that in the next five years he could gain mastery of the school.

He focused back in the moment, Akane was watching out the window the lights of the city making her eyes shine different colors as they passed through the center of Tokyo.

By some unspoken agreement neither spoke the whole ride, enjoying the moment and the city. In one part of town there were three girls wearing Sailor Moon costumes. As they watched the three girls jumped high into the air and then quickly vanished from sight. Akane and Ranma just looked at each other and shrugged.

When they got to their destination they were taken to the basement level of a tall building. The driver opened their door and handed them a card explaining that it was the key to the elevator. He pointed to the elevator then politely bowed and promised to return in an hour and wait if they weren't done.

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><p>Finally they arrived on the fiftieth floor, after which they had to take a flight of stairs to the top and came out on top of one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo. It was similar to where the old man liked to take him to train sometimes. He would blindfold Ranma and have him fight multiple opponents. The tall building provided him with incentive not to mess up. Ranma would never know how many he was fighting, or their skill level. He'd only been defeated a few times, but he was working hard. And it showed, Genma couldn't even put up much of a fight against the boy anymore.<p>

"My new trainer said you can train with us starting next week." Ranma said, speaking suddenly and shaking Akane out of her trance. She'd been staring at the surroundings. There were a few couples at small circular candle lit tables dining on different types of dishes. A few waiters here and there serving food and a kitchen in a small shack built on the roof.

Ranma had of course chosen training as a safe course for conversation for the moment.

"Are you Saotome?" A small waiter seemingly materialized next to the shy couple.

"Uh," Said Ranma "Yeah."

"This way please." the waiter led them to a table that was near the edge and had a great view of the setting sun.

"Is the spot suitable for sir and madam?"

"Hai." Said Ranma, who was now gazing at Akane.

The waiter was very experienced one and decided to disappear for a few minutes to give the couple some time before asking about orders.

"Do you like it?" Ranma's voice was just a little shaky as he asked this.

"It's beautiful!" Akane said, looking at the sunset with delight. She couldn't describe how happy she was, and hoped the night would keep going well.

They chatted idly throughout the date about their lives, Ranma told her more about the training and what would be expected of her. He'd had to learn the rough way that this master was very serious about his students showing respect. _The strength of a mans character can be gauged through the respect he gives to others.._It was something like that, he wasn't sure if that was how the old man had worded it.

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><p>As they reached the gates of the Tendo dojo Ranma came to a decision.<p>

"Akane." She turned around looking at him curiously.

Stepping in quickly he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers gently. At first she was surprised and didn't know how to respond.

Ranma feeling her lack of response was about to pull away till suddenly her hands wrapped around the back of his neck pulling him to her as she deepened the kiss. After a minute they parted, both taking deep breaths, hearts racing. They held hands and looked at each other for a moment and both started laughing, they both hugged each other and laughed for a moment at their own absurdity for waiting for so long to do such a simple thing.

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><p>I had planned on making this chapter longer than this. However this seemed the perfect spot to end chapter 1.<p>

I hope everyone enjoys it. Please R&R


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: You know what it is, I own nothing. Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma.. Warner Bro's owns characters that may or may not pop up occasionally.. let's see.. ****Nobuhiro Watsuki owns Kenshin and any references. Johan Liebert belongs to Naoki Urasawa, I haven't decided how strongly I'll feature him. He's kind of a tricky character. There may also be references to the Harry Potter world by J.K. Rowling. **

**And as a warning, the inclusion of Johan Liebert does mean that this fic will get very dark sometimes.**

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><p>The next couple of weeks were very pleasant for the couple, who indeed was now a real couple.<p>

That is to say that for the couple in question it was pleasant, most others would have tapped out and begged for mercy from their schedule.

Ranma started training Akane in Wing Chun in preparation for meeting Elder Fei Loong, who was now training Ranma in several Joketsuzoku techniques. Reluctantly Ranma was learning the hidden weapons technique.

While he still preferred not to use weapons, thinking of the tournament he was now preparing for he figured they might come in handy at some point.

In case he hadn't already been training enough his mother had also decided that Ranma and Akane needed to be trained in her families Kendo styles.

In the mornings they would wake up and Ranma would train Akane for a couple of hours, after a snack they would go to his mothers house and train with her. Then the old man would challenge them and get his ass handed to him properly.

Having the next couple hours free they would usually go find some food and then a nice spot to be away from everybody else.

The evening hours Ranma went to the Cat Cafe to train in martial arts and survival techniques.

The Elder Loong had appeared joyous at learning that Ranma would be competing in such a tournament and had taken it upon himself to train Ranma in every way possible.

Shampoo, in a move that surprised everybody. Got over the loss of her pursuit of Ranma rather quickly.

Grudgingly she was spending time with Mousse now, although as the days went by her reluctance appeared to be more for show than any real distaste.

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><p>Shampoo wasn't the only one displaying surprising behavior. Nabiki had stopped all sales of lewd pictures of Akane and Ranma, although she would still sell tasteful pictures. A girl had to make sacrifices, but she still needed to survive.<p>

Granted that Nabiki, being the shrewd business woman she was, was doing far more than merely surviving.

She had enough money put away to put most of the family through college, pay for marriages, and then some.

Her ambitions ran deep, she wanted Tendo to someday be a household name.

She looked over the blueprints on her desk.

The Tendo dojo would have to be the first step of course. It was already established, with that she could branch out.

The old lady next door had passed away, and Nabiki, although saddened at the passing. Had been quick to buy out the property since the woman had no surviving family in Japan. Her grandchildren had moved to a tropical island long ago.

The plan was to make a door in the wall leading to the old woman's house. The house itself would be torn down and in it's place a dojo would be built.

The blueprints were for a huge dojo, since the property was pretty large Nabiki had plenty or room to work with.

It would be three stories tall and fashioned in the same style as a zen Buddhist temple with a classical Japanese garden design.

She was very happy now that so many people owed her favors. Aside from supplies, the job would be practically free. Even the supplies wouldn't be very expensive for her.

Ranma and her had sat with the family and discussed the tournament. At which time Nabiki had brought up her dojo plans. After some initial disagreements, everyone was on board with Nabiki's plans as they seemed not only well thought out, but very profitable.

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><p>Ranma and Akane were on their knees in front of Nodoka. She had three bundles wrapped in cloth in her arms which she set on a table next to her.<p>

She sat on her knees in front of them and grabbed two of the bundles, which the teens know were katanas.

"Ours is a blade that protects." She began, repeating the words they had said everyday now as part of their dedication motto.

"A sword," she continued "is a weapon. The reason it was made was to kill others. Our family has shed more than it's share of blood."

She tossed the bundles to the teens.

"Our style is a combination of what was once two styles. Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu and Kamiya Kasshin-ryu"

At a nod from Nodoka they both unwrapped the bundles, pulling out sheathed katanas.

"Draw your blades." Nodoka said.

As they drew their blades she continued. "My great-great-great grandfather started using the style of sword our family has used ever since."

Both now looking at their swords noticed the blade was on the inside of the curve.

"The sword for protecting others." She said "Use them to protect our family, and anyone you meet that truly needs help. That is the way of our family."

She smiled at the teens as they admired their new katanas. She'd spared no expense, these were the highest caliber blade anyone could get in Japan.

The smith was a an artist, practically legendary and sought out by many.

"Please stay for a while today, have some tea with me and Genma."

"I'm home!" It was as if her saying his name had summoned him.

In the weeks since the wedding, since Nodoka had moved Genma out of the Tendo house. She'd taken no excuses. She forced Genma to get a job, and now he was working as a bodyguard for a local politician who was cracking down on the Yakuza.

Most days Genma would get a break for a few hours during the day while the man was conducting office work. His office, being a government building, was very well guarded and therefor Genma wasn't necessary.

"Back here pops!" Ranma called out.

The old man joined them a couple minutes later, with a cup of tea.

As the rest of them conversed he tried to sip on his tea.

He appeared agitated. He got up and paced around. He turned around and looked at Ranma.

"Boy!" He shouted, startling Ranma out of the conversation he'd been in. "Come spar with me!"

Ranma hopped up, about to accept the challenge.

Then he bowed to his father, and said. "We can spar in a minute pops. First I want ya to spar with Akane."

"All this training with women must be making your mind soft boy!" He said with distaste, "I can't spar with a weak wom..."

He didn't finish his sentence, as in the time he'd been saying it, Nodoka had closed the distance and had the family blade, out and unsheathed, an inch away from his face.

Nobody had even seen her move, except Ranma.

Genma stared at the blade for a moment and gulped, "On second thought," he said, now looking back at Ranma and Akane, "I would love to spar with Akane."

A few minutes later, Ranma and Nodoka were seated on the back porch facing the garden. In the garden Akane and Genma stood facing each other. Akane now taking up Ranma's usual relaxed stance.

"Anything but weapons Akane." Ranma shouted from the side.

Akane nodded once, concentrating, she was going to have to work hard to prove the old man wrong on his assessment of 'weak girls'.

After facing off for a moment, both sprang into motion. Genma launched an attack, going into the Saotome air based style.

Genma smiled to himself, this would be over in an instant, confident his kick would make impact with her head.

In a move resembling a baseball player sliding into the home plate, Akane slid under his attack, shooting her hand out at the last moment she caught the old man's foot.

Genma, surprised by the move, almost went face-first into the ground. However at the last moment he planted his hand on the ground and kicked his foot free from Akane's hand and launched himself into the air just on time to avoid Akane's next kick.

He came down elbow first, aimed at Akane's stomach, she rolled away from the attack just on time.

A moment later they both stood facing each other again.

The girl had improved, Genma thought, but she was way too slow to beat him.

Now taking her more seriously he launched an attack again, this time going faster, the speed he usually reserved for stronger, and faster, opponents, such as Ranma.

As expected, she wasn't fast enough to keep up with his increased speed. He landed three solid kicks on her, the third one hitting her in the solar plexus, launching her back a few feet.

She staggered for a moment, then shook her head to clear it, and stood facing Genma again.

"Akane!" Ranma's voice called from the side. "Take them off!"

Genma was confused.

His confusion turned into surprise, and his eyes widened as Akane, now grinning, reached under her uniform and started stripping off weighted cloths she was wearing underneath.

She took off several, tossing them into a neat pile, which all sounded heavy as they landed on the ground.

Akane's hair, which had been growing and was now shoulder length again, swirled around her face in the breeze as she smiled. She moved her body a little bit to get used to not having the weights on.

Genma, seeing her not paying attention, attacked again. Anything goes after all didn't mean that you wait for your opponent to be paying attention.

If he would have hit her he probably would have finished the match right there.

She hadn't even been paying attention to him. She didn't notice him till the last moment, but as his fist passed through the spot where she was, he understood his son's abilities to teach a willing student.

To Akane, everything slowed down at that last moment for just a second. But it was enough.

In a very Ranma-like move. She'd launched herself high into the air. Having not taken the weights off for the past couple weeks at any time, made her go into the air far higher than she'd expected. Ranma had made her train every day over and over till she could finally jump on the Tendo rooftop from the yard.

That was with the weights on.

She was high enough she saw Genma look down, expecting her to use the sliding move again. She saw him look up, and as her fist came in contact with his face, his eyes widened with surprise.

"Ooof!" The old man was knocked back a few feet this time as his nose burst open spurting blood.

"I think we'll call that a draw for now." Said Ranma, with pride in his voice.

"But Ranma," Said Akane.

"No buts," Ranma replied, using his teaching voice. "It may not have seemed like it, but pops was holding back some. That'll teach him to hold back a little less next time he spars with you."

Akane glared at him for a moment, then she sighed, she knew he was right. "Hai sensei."

"My son." Nodoka gushed proudly, "how amazingly manly of you to be able to train your students so well." Ranma blushed at this, and Akane smiled at him.

The old man, grumbling in-comprehensively, left the room to stop the bleeding and clean himself up, he would have to go back to work soon. In his mind he went over the battle over and over that day. He too was very proud of the progress his son had made with Akane, knowing first hand how different she'd been a mere few weeks ago.

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><p>His mom calling him 'manly' had gotten him thinking about something manly he should do now. They'd decided to go for ice cream.<p>

He reached out and took Akane's hand in his gently, she looked back at him. She was surprised, but had a smile on her face.

"Let's go to Ucchans."

Her face darkened, things were going so perfectly and now he wanted to go visit his 'cute' fiancee? She almost let go of his hand to tell him to go by himself if he wanted to spend time with his cute fiancee, when Ranma spoke again.

"I want to tell her about.." Ranma gulped and held up their linked hands. "U.. U.. Us."

Akane's anger vanished, and she felt ashamed of herself for jumping to conclusions.

He was holding her hand after all, why did she think he was going to run off to Ukyo? Akane shook her head slightly disappointed in herself for her own insecurities.

Ranma saw the head shake and took it for disapproval. "Look if ya want to keep it secret it's okay with me."

"NO!" Akane said with surprising force,"I.. I mean, no." She looked up with a smile to his face. "I was just jealous when you said her name, I'm being silly. Let's go tell her."

Holding hands still, they continued walking to Ukyo's

"How have you been doing it?"

Akane's question took him by surprise.

"Whatcha mean tomboy?"

She ignored the teasing nickname, "You haven't changed into a girl once this week, or last for that matter."

"Oh that." Said Ranma

"Yes that." Akane replied cheekily.

"Elder Cologne received a recipe book in the mail." He explained. "In it was a recipe to make a new kind of soap the Joketsuzoku tribe has discovered which helps prevent transformations. She has us each help in making batches of the stuff." He wrinkled his nose as he thought about it, "It stinks up the whole room when you make it, fortunately a batch makes like a hundred bars of soap. That's enough to last a few months. Next time it's my turn to learn the recipe, this time Shampoo had to learn it."

Ranma suddenly thought about something. "Oh yeah, Elder Fei Loong says it's time for him to start working with you tomorrow night."

They continued the discussion till they reached the restaurant.

They'd chosen the perfect time, the lunch crowd had left, and Ukyo was just finishing the cleanup when they walked in.

"Hi hon," She said turning around and smiling at them "be with ya in a moment."

She tried to hide her expression, but their linked hands settled on her like a ton of bricks. She felt her heart sink into her stomach and knew she wasn't going to like this visit.

She'd closed up the shop. After an hour of talking, some yelling, some crying. The couple and Ukyo gotten everything in the open.

Ukyo still loved Ranma, and it hurt he didn't love her the same way. Although, he said he did love her. Only that it was as a brother would love a sister.

She'd explained how when they were kids he'd thought she was a boy, how being on the road and alone with his father all the time he'd always wished for a sibling. Ukyo had become that from the moment they'd met.

Now that Ranma understood love better he was able to admit it for what it was.

But, she thought bitterly, she was only a sister. Not his one and only.

She'd wanted to fight Akane, but she knew it would do no good.

Ranma had finally given her an offer extended by Nodoka and Nabiki to right the wrongs committed to her by Genma.

She would be adopted into Nodoka's line, and Nabiki would help her expand and increase her profits tenfold if she agreed.

She would need time to think about everything.

She needed time away from everything and everyone.

At the end she had grudgingly agreed to not interfere in the couples relationship, unless of course Akane did something bad to Ranma.

For now it looked like the couple was doing very well, they'd even left her restaurant together, holding hands again.

But, she needed time away. She had a spot in the woods that her father had left her. She put a temporarily closed sign on her door and left with a heavy backpack.

* * *

><p>Some philosophers have said that to truly find yourself, you must first find yourself completely lost. Other philosophers dismiss this idea as complete rubbish, countering that only with order in your life can you ever truly find yourself. There is yet another class of philosopher that says both the other types of philosophers are full of shit. Their idea being that in order for one to truly find themselves, they needed to follow their own path be it orderly or chaotic.<p>

Ryoga didn't really understand the philosophy, or particularly care for that matter, he was just mad that he was lost. Again.

The most distressing part of being lost wasn't that he was lost though. He was lost all the damn time, and was kind of used to it at this point. No, what confused, irritated, baffled, and had him scratching his head furiously was that he'd had no clue how the hell he'd gotten to be where he was.

The room was filled with soft, warm, ambient light. Everything appeared to be made out of wood. A log cabin of some sort?

Sometimes, completely unintentionally. And without even knowing it, we find ourselves exactly where we need to be.

"Hi hon'" Came the familiar voice.

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><p>Thank you very much for reading.. Please R&amp;R...<p>

Sorry for the sort chapter, it's been a hectic week and I haven't had much time. I should get more this week though. Enjoy!


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